


All That and Marinford Too

by Kereea



Series: ASL In Red [8]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Action, Alternate Marinford, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Lot going on here, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 11:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5495027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kereea/pseuds/Kereea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ace and Marco, the sons of two Emperors, captured. Luffy and Law, two supernovas, bound for Impel Down to save them. Shanks and Whitebeard, two fathers the Marines should not have pissed off.<br/>This was going to be an amazing disaster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All That and Marinford Too

**Author's Note:**

> And not the BIG one! Because this fic ping-pongs all over and it's easy to get lost: if I don't mention something, assume it went as canon. For everyone's sanity.

Marco woke up freezing his ass off and in the middle of a coughing fit.

“You okay?”

Marco felt almost too woozy to lift his head—shit, he was chained all over in seastone, no wonder—but he managed, seeing Ace in a cell across from him, also chained. “Got you too, Fire Fist?”

“That was one hell of a bar ambush,” Ace said. “Who was the asshole with the dark powers?”

“Blackbeard. Defected from our crew last year,” Marco said. “Killed Thatch.”

“Shit, I liked Thatch…” Ace said. “So…we’ve been captured.”

“Seems to be the gist of it,” Marco agreed before having another coughing fit.

“Seriously, are you okay?” Ace asked.

“Had a bit of a weak immune system before the Zoan. Seastone kind of brings that back,” Marco admitted. “No instant Phoenix healing.”

“Oh come on, Marco, you don’t want to die before they execute us, do you?” Ace asked sarcastically.

“Please, like they’ll get the chance. Nabbing two Emperor’s kids? What were they thinking?” Marco asked.

“You’re really thinking we’re going to get rescued?” Ace asked.

“Ace, your dad wants to kill me for _dating_ you. I shudder to think what trying to kill you gets someone,” Marco chuckled.

.o.o.o.

“Well, shit,” Sengoku said as Kizaru and Aokiji gave their report. “Couldn’t leave the Phoenix in a heap on the ground, could you?”

“Well no one told me to try,” Kizaru protested.

“You should have known to because two Emperors after us at once is going to be hell,” Aokiji said. “Though…why _is_ Fire Fist a higher priority than the Phoenix?”

“We’ll see if we can dissuade Shanks,” Sengoku said. “Fire First’s bounty is barely a hundred million, we’ll consider not killing him if Shanks stays out of the fight with Whitebeard.”

Ace’s status as the son of Gold Roger was highly classified. Not even the Admirals knew, only that for whatever reason his low bounty was artificially lowered for some reason. They had to kill him, but could claim to Shanks that they wouldn’t in order to keep it a secret that he’d slipped their grasp for twenty years. That sounded believable.

“I’ll try to play Kaido against Whitebeard while I’m at it,” Sengoku decided. “Aokiji, tell Captain Donquixote to find a way to get me in contact with Red Haired Shanks while I plan this out.”

.o.o.o.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Law muttered.

“Of course it did, my strategy was flawless,” Hancock said, tossing her hair. “The ocean spray my serpents kicked up while pretending to be upset disguised you casting a Room, and you later appeared in my quarters. Perfection.”

“Of course, now we have to hide until we get there,” Law said. “And figure out a way in.”

“It will take them about half an hour to search me,” Hancock said. “You should use your Shambles to get in during that time and run off while I have many of them enthralled by my excellence.”

“Which I need to cast a Room for which will alert people I am there,” Law said.

“We could try to sneak in with her?” Luffy suggested.

“And how would we justify two men being with me?” Hancock asked.

“…Okay, possibly giving ourselves away with a Room it is,” Luffy decided.

“Impel Down has many levels,” Hancock said, “Prisoners such as Phoenix Marco will be on the sixth and deepest. I’m not sure if your brother will be there or not, Luffy.”

“He’ll be there,” Luffy said.

“Why? Fire Fist is barely a supernova,” Law said.

Luffy frowned. He was pretty sure Ace wouldn’t want him to just tell people…but there was another way to put it, “His mom, Portgas D. Rouge, was on the Roger Pirates. They think he knows something important about Roger that she did.”

That was all totally true. Just…not the real issue. Benn would probably be glad he’d managed to say it like that, though!

“Huh,” Law said. “But…then how did he end up with you and Sabo?”

“Well actually we ended up with him, he was there first,” Luffy said. “I mean, the bandits were kind of Gramps’ go-to babysitters…”

Hancock and Law stared at him.

“What? If you’re going to ask me, I’m going to get it right! Okay, so, Gramps dropped me with Dadan when I was seven, but I’d already met Shanks by then-”

.o.o.o.

“Explain to me why I shouldn’t demolish the first base of yours I find,” Shanks seethed. The Den Den Mushi was practically cowering, even though its expression was impassive as the Marine on the other side continued speaking.

“Because your son was merely arrested by association with Phoenix Marco,” Sengoku said. “…The facts of who Ace is are classified to…protect our reputations.”

“Oh, so tragic that you didn’t manage to kill him as a baby, yes,” Shanks hissed.

“Twenty years without nabbing him is a bad record. He’s clearly not interested in telling anyone, though, so…we will consider you staying out of what Whitebeard is planning sufficient trade for your son.”

Shanks frowned. He and Whitebeard had recently discussed attacking Marinford. He’d personally wondered why they didn’t just aim for Impel Down, _now_ , not in a day or so, but Whitebeard wanted time to gather allies, to send more of a message.

“We’ll keep him chained with seastone and a man in his cell with a gun. You interfere, we shoot him then and there and claim we executed the son of the late pirate king on sight because we took no chances. You stay out of it, you get your son back.”

“Marine, let me make something very clear,” Shanks said. “If you are lying to me, if Ace dies…I will fucking raze Mariejois to the _ground_.”

.o.o.o.

“…So Mariejois is getting razed, great,” Rocinante groaned after Sengoku hung up.

“No. And that’s why I called you three here,” Sengoku said. He made a hand gesture that Rocinante was used to, a silent call for him to create a quiet zone.

“All right,” Sengoku said as Rocinante made it so that no one else could hear them. “Gentlemen, I have bad news. This morning it was reported that Monkey D. Luffy and Trafalgar D. Water Law were seen in Impel Down. We believe they are planning a rescue.”

“Why would Law be there?” Kuzan asked. “He’s got no stake in this and would rather _die_ than get locked up!”

“I don’t know,” Sengoku said as Garp sighed and shook his head.

“So what does this do for Ace’s execution?” Garp asked.

Rocinante could see it was killing the man to voice that question.

“We’re moving his and Marco’s execution up by a few hours. You are going to go get on a ship and get them in an hour,” Sengoku said. “As your other grandson is on the island, you are not to leave the ship. You will guard Marco and Ace for the duration of the journey and on the execution platform…what you say to either of them in that time, before we begin the broadcast, is at your discretion.”

“And then the son your return to Shanks is Luffy,” Rocinante surmised. “You never said it would be Ace he’d get back just ‘your son’ the whole time you were promising things.”

“Yes. We’ll hold Monkey D. Luffy as a hostage for his adoptive father’s good behavior,” Sengoku agreed. “…Law we will simply hold.”

“ _Why_ would he go to Impel Down?” Kuzan asked again. “He was so scared of me capturing him that he tried to _cut his own head off_ , Sengoku. Something’s up, we’ve missed something here.”

“I have the two Marines who know him best right here, what do you think?” Sengoku turned the question back.

“I don’t know,” Rocinante said as Kuzan glanced at him. “This…it’s reckless, it’s desperate, and it’s clearly planned on short notice which is not like Law at all.”

“Yeah, when he’s reckless and desperate it is planned to the last degree,” Kuzan said.

“Then I don’t know more than that,” Sengoku admitted. “You gentleman can talk amongst yourselves until Garp needs to leave.”

“…Scared as hell for them, but I’m proud of Luffy. Gutsy move,” Garp said after Sengoku left.

“Little hard to be proud of a pirate planning a prison break,” Rocinante said.

“It’s an awkward sort of pride,” Garp admitted. “You think I don’t brag to Sengoku whenever one of my grandsons does something eye-catching? Or he doesn’t retaliate with recent news of Law’s exploits? We disagree with them…but at the same time, they’re damn good at what they do.”

“Sengoku… _brags_ about Law?” Rocinante asked.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Garp asked. “The Surgeon of Death, one of the most intimidating pirates in all of North Blue and now the Grand Line, is _his_ grandkid.”

“Huh. That explains why I smile whenever his bounty goes up…and then kick myself since it means I sort of have to work harder to catch him,” Kuzan admitted.

Garp smiled sadly, “The boys promised they’d be so strong they could meet up with me and I wouldn’t have to worry about bringing them in since they’d be tough enough to escape me. Well…maybe Luffy and Sabo can still keep that promise.”

“Why do they want Ace dead so badly, then?” Kuzan asked.

“…We can’t tell you. You’ll learn with the other Admirals,” Rocinante said. He wasn’t spilling something like that, especially not with Garp right next to him.

“That big a secret? …This is going to get complicated, isn’t it?” Kuzan sighed.

“It already is,” Rocinante assured him.

.o.o.o.

“What’s even our plan out of here?” Buggy asked as Ivankov worked to heal Luffy.

Law would rather have extracted the poison himself, removing deadly chemicals from a person wasn’t exactly foreign to him after all, but he had to save his energy if they had any hope of getting out of here. And they _were_ getting out of here. “I’m going to create a large Room and force open the Gates of Justice.”

“And if we have the Phoenix and the Fire Fist as backup, we’ll be able to reach those gates in no time at all!” Bentham said.

Law nodded. “Which is why I’m going to rest as much as I can until Luffy’s up and running again. Large Rooms drain a lot of energy, I’ll need to save it.”

“Yeah, if we’re going to rescue Rouge’s kid we’ll need to do it right!” Buggy said.

.o.o.o.

Sabo had barely had time to celebrate when Koala had found the submarine with the remnants of the Heart and Straw Hat Pirates before running off to see if she could get them more information.

“I need your Den Den Mushi,” he told Bepo. “I need to call my fathers.”

“This way,” the bear said, leading him to a tight alcove that housed the snail and a small bench.

Sabo quickly rang the Red Force. “Pick up, pick up…”

“Benn Beckmann speaking.”

“Benn!” Sabo said. “Benn, it’s-”

“Sabo!” Wow, Sabo could barely recall Benn sounding that happy. The guy was pretty low key. “Shanks, get over here, Sabo’s on the line!”

“Sabo!” The snail’s expression changed as Shanks must have taken the speaker. “Are you all right? Where’s Luffy?”

“I, well, I’m not so sure about Luffy right this second,” Sabo said. “But I’m with the remnants of my crew and another. Tell us where to meet you so we can plan our next move, you heard about Ace, right?”

“Right,” Shanks said. “We’re near Marinford, but not too close.”

“We’re near there, can we find a halfway point?” Sabo asked.

“Sounds good,” Shanks said.

Nami gave a nearby map a cursory glance before rattling off some coordinates for Shanks.

“We can’t use the snail while submerged,” Bepo warned Sabo.

“Shanks, the navigator for this crew says their ship can’t transmit en-route, so I’ll have to go,” Sabo said. “See you soon!”

“Where does Luffy’s vivre card say he is, anyway?” Chopper asked as they submerged.

“Oh no,” he said as he pulled the cards out of his coat. Both were burning now, both pointing in the same direction.

“Luffy…went after Ace,” Usopp said, going pale.

“We’ll have to tell Shanks,” Sabo said, watching the cards. “This just gets worse and worse…”

“Oh dear…” Bepo said, coming over as he pulled a card out of his jumpsuit. “This is our captain’s!”

It pointed the same way, and like Luffy’s was at a low smolder.

“What the hell is going on?” Sabo whispered, unable to look away from the cards.

.o.o.o.

Marco was still cold days later when he and Ace were—surprisingly—scheduled to be executed at the same time.

Marco wondered what they were playing at. Were they rushing things to head off an attack by Whitebeard and Shanks?

“Sure this old guy’s going to be enough?” he mocked as only one Marine was left to watch them.

“Vice Admiral Garp ‘the Fist’, at your service you brat,” Garp said sharply.

Huh, the guy who took out the Pirate King. Impressive, he’d admit.

“Hey, Marco, look,” Ace said.

Marco looked up—Ace was well off the bench, sitting near the middle of the room on the floor.

Marco looked at his own seastone chains—nowhere near short enough to keep him on the bench. He quickly moved to sit near Ace. “Weird oversight, but I’ll take it.”

“I adjusted the chains,” Garp said. “Couldn’t quite get them to where you can sit next to each other but close. Best I could do.”

“Thanks, Gramps,” Ace said weakly.

Marco frowned when Garp didn’t react to that like he had to Marco calling him a geezer. “Wait, Ace, is he really your…?”

“Monkey D. Garp, Grandfather of Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, and Sabo,” Garp said.

Marco’s jaw dropped. “…Ace, did Shanks _kidnap_ you?”

“He saved us. Gramps couldn’t have so he did.”

Ace was starting to scare Marco now with how quiet he was being.

“Ace, yoi, we’re going to be fine. Pops will go to war over something like this, Shanks probably will too, we’re not going to die-”

“I’m not afraid to die,” Ace said. “Gramps they’re…they’re going to tell everyone, aren’t they?”

Garp nodded.

“Shit,” Ace muttered, starting to shake.

“Tell everyone what?” Marco asked, panicking as Ace flinched. “Ace, tell me what’s wrong!”

“I…um…never told you…something kind of important about,” Ace muttered. “Something I don’t like…and I don’t want you to know.”

“Ace, you just told me your grandpa’s one of the Navy’s biggest heroes, I don’t think you can do much worse,” Marco said.

“Oh I can.”

“Ace, breathe,” Garp said firmly.

“Ace come on, it can’t be that bad,” Marco soothed.

“The way I see it, I can just not tell you and only have you mad at me for a little while when you find out before they kill us…or have you hate me until we die…” Ace muttered.

“Overdramatic brat,” Garp huffed. “No one who _actually_ knows you will hate you for it. To say nothing of the stupid pirate you apparently decided was attractive.”

“While he’s being an ass about it, he’s right that I won’t hate you,” Marco said, shifting so they were fully facing each other. “Ace, please, look at me…”

Ace glanced up for a second and then back down, “Portgas was my mother’s name. My…my real surname is Gol. Gol D. Ace…”

Marco’s eyes widened, “Your father was Gold Roger.”

“Gol D. Roger, actually.” Ace’s laugh was wet with tears. “I was never supposed to exist.”

Marco heard Garp sigh, a low “not this again.” Did…did Ace feel like this often?

He struggled against the chains, straining forward so he could rest his forehead against Ace’s, “You are supposed to exist, Fire Fist. And I don’t hate you, idiot. I love you.”

Ace tilted his head up a bit, eyes full of tears, “Mean it?”

“I love you, you crazy pirate idiot,” Marco said.

“Glad you found someone,” Garp said as Ace managed to somehow push himself a millimeter forward to kiss Marco. “Even if he’s a reprehensible pirate.”

“My worst crimes are property damage and kicking Marines in the face!” Marco snapped, mad at the guy for ruining the moment.

“Property damage?” Ace asked.

“You do not want to be where a pissed off phoenix is aiming to dive-bomb,” Marco admitted.

“…Awesome,” Ace said.

“Delinquents, the both of you,” Garp muttered. Marco felt a bit for the guy, seeing tears in his eyes.

“Love you too, Gramps,” Ace said, smiling sadly.

.o.o.o.

“I don’t see a ship…were we tricked?” Benn asked. “Did someone capture Sabo for the message?”

Shanks shook his head, “Sabo wouldn’t just tell us ‘be at this location’ then. He’s smart, he’d have hinted.”

“Something’s coming,” Yasopp said. “That way.”

“There’s nothing there, is your Haki broken?” Lucky Roo asked.

“Guys, we’re all tense, no infighting—whoa,” Shanks said as a mast rose out of the water. “Water’s too shallow for something like Whitebeard’s ship, right?”

“Yeah, but his is massive, that yellow thing’s half our size,” Benn said as the odd ship came to a halt beside them.

The doors on the small deck banged open and Sabo rushed out, Usopp, a redheaded woman, and what looked like a raccoon-dog on his heels.

“Sabo!” Shanks yelled, hopping down to the other ship.

“Shanks!” Sabo said, rushing over and hugging him. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“Did you guys run into any of the rest of our crew?” the raccoon dog—no, wait, he was a tiny deer—asked as Yasopp embraced Usopp.

“No,” Shanks said, sadly. “You neither?”

Sabo sighed, “No. Look, Shanks, I have to talk to you, Ace has been captured-”

“I know, remember?” Shanks said. “We got that call right before you called us.”

“What?” Sabo asked. “Why’d you let us stall you then, we could have met you en route to getting him back-”

“Sabo, we have to stay put,” Shanks said.

“…What?” Sabo and all three of his crew members demanded.

“We made a deal,” Shanks said as four more people came out onto the smaller ships deck from inside. “The navy wants to use Marco to draw in Whitebeard—no shit, obviously. Ace is their insurance against me getting involved. They’re going to keep him at Impel Down and if I show up at Marinford, they’ll kill him.”

“Shanks, I don’t think you know everything, here,” Sabo said, going pale.

“I don’t like it, but it’s how we get Ace back—staying out of the fight,” Shanks said quietly.

“They’re _lying_!” Sabo yelled, pulling Ace and Luffy’s vivre cards out of his hat. “Shanks, Shanks listen to me. Earlier, these were burning and pointing to the same place!”

“So was our captain’s!” a talking bear added.

“I think Luffy dragged Trafalgar Law to Impel Down to try and save Ace,” Sabo said. “And he’s _still there_ , it’s still pointing that way even if it’s not burning! But Ace _isn’t_. They aren’t pointing the same way anymore!”

“If Ace isn’t still being held in Impel Down anymore…” Benn mused.

“I got info from Koala, I forgot to tell you since I thought you knew,” Sabo continued breathlessly. “They’re going to execute Ace _at the same time_ as Marco! They’re t _ricking you_ , Shanks, so they don’t have to fight two Emperors at once!”

“Your spy girlfriend?” Shanks asked.

“She works for the Sun Pirates and some other group called the Revolutionary Army,” Sabo said. “She was sure of it, Shanks! We have to _go_!”

“It makes sense,” Benn said. “Marco’s important, sure, he’s a way to lure Whitebeard, and they know not to piss off two Emperors at once. But Ace is higher priority to kill due to his little issue…”

“They’re going to kill him without notice, so I won’t be there,” Shanks snarled.

“And then they’ll threaten to not give back _Luffy_ if you try to retaliate,” Benn added darkly. “Sneaky bastards.”

Shanks rounded on the Heart and Straw Hat Pirates, “Any of you who want to take on an army, get on the ship. We’ll leave yours here for safekeeping.”

“Let us bring the sub!” a man with a hat that read Penguin said. “We have operating rooms! In case anyone is grievously injured!”

“They’re well stocked with medical supplies, Shanks,” Sabo said. “We’ll need them.”

Shanks nodded, “All right. Tell me who you are, and what you can do. We need to get ready.”

.o.o.o.

“Almost there!” Luffy cheered.

“Does anyone else notice that the _gates are still closed_?” Crocodile demanded.

“Nah, don’t worry. Traffy, you saved more than enough energy, right?” Luffy asked.

“I think so,” Law said, focusing on the Gates of Justice. “Room. Tact.”

The escapees gasped in awe as the gates seemingly ripped themselves open—and then some in panic as Law staggered.

“Or not…” he hissed. “ _Fuck_ , those were heavier than I thought…”

“Are you all right?” Benthem asked, helping Law sink to his knees without falling flat on his face.

“Fine, fine, just…not as rested as I thought.”

“Take a nap, Traffy, we’ll wake you up at Marinford,” Luffy offered.

“And I’ll give you a shot of adrenaline when we get there!” Ivankov said.

“Good plan, good plan…hope we’re not late,” Law said. “This is going to be one hell of a party by the sound of things…”

“Go to sleep, Traffy,” Luffy said, sitting down and moving Law so he could rest his head in his lap. “I’ll keep an eye on things.”

Law chuckled, “Hey, Luffy?”

“Yeah?”

“We just broke the Marines’ best prison. Guess nobody can lock us up, huh?”

“Like anyone ever could!” Luffy agreed as Law drifted off.

.o.o.o.

“Thought you weren’t coming, Red Hair!” Whitebeard called as the Red Force drew alongside the Moby Dick, submarine trailing just behind it.

Shanks shrugged off the implied admonition. Guy thought because he was over twice Shanks’ age he could play the venerated elder… “They tricked us into thinking Ace was going to be executed privately elsewhere, we had to investigate.”

“One has to look into these things with their children on the line,” Whitebeard agreed. “Let me guess, though, you’re furious they tricked you?”

“In a word,” Shanks said as they neared Marinford. “Benn, fleet strength?”

“Pretty good. Bulk of the strongest are Whitebeard’s commanders and our crew, though,” Benn said. “Only Whitey Bay and the sub have anything that will work if Aokiji freezes the water, which will almost certainly be an issue.”

“Get the rookies in their places?” Shanks asked.

“Usopp’s with Yasopp in the crow’s nest, Sabo’s with us, rest are on the sub. Penguin’s prepping operating rooms, the others will guard the sub in case we use it as a last-ditch escape. Think only the bear would really have much of a chance in the fighting anyway, and that’s just because I know Minks are born fighters,” Benn said.

“Good,” Shanks said. He didn’t _like_ that Sabo was with them instead of staying on the sub but he also knew there was no way they could make Sabo not go with them short of knocking him unconscious and so was going with the lesser of two evils for now. Besides, if Sabo was close, he could at least keep an eye on him.

“So what’s the plan?” Sabo asked.

“We’ll give them a last chance to give the boys back,” Shanks said. “Two Emperors might be enough to make them reconsider. If not, we carve a path through them and _take_ Ace and Marco back.”

“Hear anything else from your girlfriend?” Benn asked.

Sabo shook his head, “She was looking into something. Apparently Jinbe turned himself in rather than fight Whitebeard and that was where most of her info came from. She said she has a plan but I’m not sure what it is…”

“Guys, why are the gates opening?” Usopp called down from the crow’s nest.

Shanks’ eyes widened as the Gates of Justice in front of Marinford did just that. “Either they’re expecting us or we’ve got an inside man.”

“Or maybe woman? Think this was Koala, Sabo?” Benn asked.

Sabo shrugged, “Not sure, maybe?”

.o.o.o.

“Hey Jinbe, can you call your Whale Shark buddies to speed this thing along, we’re going to be late at this rate,” Buggy said.

“The current is already pushing us faster than those sharks could, calm down,” Jinbe said. “With any luck Whitebeard and Red Hair will be there already.”

“We really can’t count on luck right now,” Bentham said. “Sir Crocodile, what do you think?”

Crocodile tapped his chin, “Assuming the execution wasn’t moved up the second the heard of our escape we should have plenty of time…but the idea that it wasn’t moved up would be foolish that this point.

“But Shanks will be there,” Luffy said firmly, managing to be imposing despite still serving as Law’s pillow. “He will. And so will Whitebeard. So we need to back them up and save the day!”

“Uh, guys?” Mr. 3 yelled. “Rough waters ahead!”

“Oh…shit,” Buggy said as he saw the tsunami. “Oi, Straw Hat! Might want to wake up that boyfriend of yours and tell him to hang the fuck on!”

.o.o.o.

Marco wasn’t surprised to see the rescue. It only made sense, after all.

He was surprised that the Marines waited until it showed up to _loudly_ announce Ace was the son of Gold Roger, though.

And very pleasantly surprised, as Ace was hanging his head in utter shame, that Shanks yelled loud enough for anybody back at Impel down to hear, “OI! That is MY SON and nobody else’s, **you got that**?”

Pops talked like that sometimes, with a weird weight behind it. It bowled over the first few lines of Marines.

And well, he was already on an execution platform, not much more the Marines could do to him, right? “Yoi, Fleet Commander, can’t you even get your facts right about whose son he is? Pretty sure the guy ripping your army apart gets to claim superior ‘dad’ rank.”

Ace laughed. Even if they died today, Marco was calling it a win.

.o.o.o.

Whitebeards tremors were setting off serious shockwaves. Even with Aokiji freezing the initial tsunamis, it was keeping all three Admirals pinned on a back line to use their Haki to stop the island from getting ripped apart.

Shanks approved.

His group and rushed as deep into the crowd as they could managed, ad were getting deeper in every second. Sabo was mostly sticking to a support role, given his relative weakness compared to most of the group, but he was doing well.

Suddenly someone yelled “incoming!” and Shanks turned to see a ship falling out of the sky towards the battlefield.

What the _hell_?

Everyone stopped for a moment and stared at the crash site as the spray of water cleared.

“HEY, MARINES!”

“Holy shit,” Shanks said, grinning at Luffy’s voice.

“No. Way,” Sabo said, also smiling.

“Luffy!” Nami cheered.

Luffy stood in front of a crowd of prisoners, including two former Warlords, Buggy, and his fellow Supernova Trafalgar Law. “MY NAME IS MONKEY D. LUFFY! I’M GOING TO BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES! **GIVE ME MY BROTHER BACK _RIGHT NOW_!** ”

Shanks blinked in surprise at the sheer force of the Conqueror’s Haki that bowled over quite a few Marines and even seemed to stagger the executioners. Either Luffy had been practicing or the kid was pissed off beyond all reason.

Glancing at the platform, where one of the executioners had passed out and the other looked woozy, he had to admit the latter was very likely since he started seeing red pretty damn quick.

“That’s your youngest?” Whitebeard asked.

“And the future Pirate King if he has any say in it,” Shanks agreed. “Come on, let’s not let him and his backup go to waste!”

.o.o.o.

“Shit, they actually got out,” Kizaru said. “I feel like I should applaud for a bit and _then_ beat them up!”

“Yeah, they actually did it…” Kuzan mused. Law had escaped the Marine’s best prison…he almost felt kind of proud. What was it Garp had called it? Awkward pride?

“With that kind of backup, we’ll need to get down there now,” Akainu said.

“Should have been down there already with Red Hair and Whitebeard but no, you made me come back up here after the Ice Age…” Kuzan said, rolling his eyes.

“We needed our combined Haki to block Whitebeard’s shockwaves. Oh, and don’t lose your boyfriend’s brat this time,” Akainu added.

Kuzan’s eyes narrowed, “Well I’d leave him to _you_ , but then we’d have just a headless dog left.”

“I think we’re supposed to be fighting the pirates, gentlemen!” Kizaru chided before jumping into the fray.

Oh man. He’d been scolded by _Kizaru_ for not doing his job properly.

…This was a weird day.

.o.o.o.

“All right, let’s go!” Luffy decided.

“Hey!” Law barked at Crocodile as the man rushed at Whitebeard. “Room! Tact!”

Crocodile’s hook was wrenched backward, embedding itself in the ice.

“Don’t be an asshole!” Luffy scolded him. “We didn’t save your butt for that!”

“We should have just gone with Jinbe,” Law muttered.

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, now in case you didn’t notice— _whole! Marine! Army!_ ” Buggy yelled.

“We noticed, dipshit,” Law said, shrugging it off.

“Captain!”

“Luffy!”

Law and Luffy turned to see Chopper and Bepo waving at them from Law’s submarine.

“Huh, they escaped…only to show up here. Why not?” Law asked.

“Sabo!” Luffy cheered, seeing his brother fighting alongside Benn. “Wow, a lot of them made it!”

Bepo, Jean Bart, and Nami jumped off the sub and hurried across the field.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Nami said, hugging Luffy as Bepo did the same to Law. “Oh. Hey Buggy.”

“Cat Burglar,” Buggy replied with equal dislike.

“We’re guarding the ships, this crowd is a bit outside our weight class,” Jean Bart said.

“That so…” Law said. “Bepo, keep everyone safe.”

“Right, Captain!” Bepo said, saluting.

“Army!” Buggy yelled.

“Why do you think I forgot?” Law asked.

“Traffy, stop teasing him and let’s go!” Luffy said.

“This thing’s going to be too unwieldly in a crowd,” Law said, glancing at Kikoku. “Bepo!”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Have my other sword?”

“Yes, Captain!” Bepo said, pulling the tanto out of his jumpsuit.

“Great, you use this,” Law said, giving Bepo his sword and getting the shorter one in return. “Much better.”

“Come on already!” Luffy yelled, running into the fray.

“You’re boyfriend’s pushy,” Buggy complained.

“Stop talking,” Law told him.

“ _You_ stop talking!”

“Guys, Warlord alert!” Mr. 3 yelled, busy encasing Marines in wax.

“Aw, shit,” Law muttered, booting Buggy at Mihawk as he drew his sword. “Nowhere near good enough a swordsman for this…oh well…”

.o.o.o.

“They made it! I can’t believe it!” Lucky Roo laughed as he banged two Marines’ heads together.

“It’s _Luffy_ and you can’t believe it?” Kincaid asked.

Shanks laughed, he had a point. And what a point it was with Luffy having broken out of Impel Down…okay, he was having a bit of trouble with Mihawk, might need to help him there…

Wait a minute.

“…Benn where’s Sabo?” Shanks asked.

“Well _shit_ ,” Benn muttered upon realizing he couldn’t find the kid either.

“I heard something like ‘going to save Luffy’s bacon, bye!’ think that was him?” Rockstar asked…before cowering at the looks the senior crew members gave him. “Going for a yes…”

.o.o.o.

“So I don’t know how to tell you this…we don’t know where Zoro is,” Luffy explained as he, Law and Buggy barely avoided death-by-Warlord.

“Oh, I do. He’s back home,” Mihawk said. “I simply didn’t tell him where I was going.”

“He’s going to be mad when you get back,” Luffy said.

“Probably, but it’s his own fault for not asking, really,” Mihawk said.

“Do you want your kid to hate you?” Sabo demanded, slipping between two bits of Buggy to parry Mihawk’s sword with a Haki-coated pipe.

“Well he is kind of raising Zoro to be a rival…” Luffy admitted.

“No, that sounds like terrible parenting. Cora-san was a lying spy and he knew better than to not tell me stuff like that,” Law said.

“Wow, you’re worse than a lying spy?” Buggy asked Mihawk. “Not cool! And stop trying to kill me!”

“Stop getting in my way!” Mihawk snapped.

“To be fair, I’m keeping him in your way,” Law admitted. “He’s a lovely shield. Thank you for your _bravery_ , Captain Buggy.”

“I hate you so much right now!” Buggy hissed.

“Shut up, Luffy-ya and I are making you look good,” Law said, using Buggy to block again. “Don’t want those inmates to think you’re a coward, right?”

“ _Hate_ ,” Buggy hissed.

“So Luffy got you to go to Impel down with him?” Sabo asked.

“I clearly had a lapse in sanity,” Law muttered as Shanks and Benn showed up to push Mihawk back, the Emperor chasing the warlord deeper into the crowd.

“So, how _did_ you and Luffy get here again?” Benn asked.

“We ended up on Amazon Lily, allied with Boa Hancock, and then Luffy somehow talked me into going to Impel Down because I am an idiot,” Law snapped. Screw it, this was taking too long. “Shambles.”

There, they were all closer to the platform. He started cutting up more Marines.

“Then we staged a breakout and a tsunami threw us here,” Law concluded. “I have taken into consideration the idea that I may simply have snapped by now and imagined all that.”

He really probably had. Secret Okama lands? Tsunamis making them land right on the battlefield?

“No, no, I saw the tsunami,” Benn assured him.

Oh thank goodness. He wasn’t insane yet.

“Traffy’s my boyfriend!” Luffy said and Law was suddenly very aware that he was fighting right next to one of Luffy’s fathers while the other one was pretty damn close.

Great, it wouldn’t be Marines that killed him, but angry fathers.

…Still better than Doflamingo, though.

.o.o.o.

“Luffy get back here!” Sabo yelled as Luffy grabbed Bentham, Mr. 3, and his boyfriend—ooh Sabo was not happy about that—and rushed for the platform ramp. “Don’t leave me behind asshole—shit!”

He ducked one of Vide Admiral Onigumo’s spider legs, which Shanks quickly cut off.

“Let’s hope they can get up there…” Benn said, smirking as Doflamingo left the field.

“With Gramps in the way? I don’t think so…” Sabo muttered, only to see Garp seemingly go flying off the ramp. “…Or he’ll let Luffy win that’s a possibility.”

.o.o.o.

“Great, now not only does he have to watch me die, he has to fight Luffy to stop him from saving me…I hate today,” Ace mumbled.

“Got to love those not-on-time executions,” Marco mocked, grinning at Sengoku.

The Fleet Admiral’s attention was drawn to the left was one of the executioners finally got back on their feet, “You! Kill the Phoenix now. We’ll try to use Fire Fist as a bargaining chip, Shanks is more easily persuaded. He’s young.”

“Yeah, just watch how _easily persuaded_ he’ll be, trust me, it’ll be fun,” Ace hissed.

The woman saluted Sengoku, who turned back to watch the battle.

Suddenly the female Marine dove at Ace instead of Marco.

“Oi!” Marco yelled, trying to kick at her but getting stopped by the shackles…which was a good thing since she was unlocking Ace’s with a gold key. “Wait…”

“Koala?” Ace asked.

“Who?” Marco asked before the girl was diving away from Sengoku with a fancy flip as Luffy and a small group reached the platform.

“Sabo’s girlfriend!” Ace said as one guy with Luffy made some kind of barrier between them and Sengoku and Koala went back to work.

“You know, we haven’t actually had a real date now that I think of it,” she said as she finally got Ace’s cuffs off. “Unless you count me getting him back with some of his crew. Now for you, Phoenix.”

“We need to get out of here!” Luffy said as Ace made a massive wall of fire that backed Sengoku up even more…and melted the other guy’s wall.

“Miss, I don’t think a real date is a prerequisite with these brothers,” a skinny man in a hat sighed. “Get the chains off and I can move all of us pretty far, but it will deplete most of my stamina.”

“Save it, you might need to help someone later!” the flamboyant man said.

“…Can I ask who you all are?” Marco asked as Koala set to freeing him.

“Traffy’s my boyfriend, he’s crazy strong, Bentham’s on my crew now, he fights with ballet, and Mr. 3 uses cool wax stuff but he’s not on the crew cause he’s sticking with dumb old Crocodile,” Luffy said.

“ _Traffy_ is your _what?_ And, wait, Bentham is on the crew now?” Ace asked. “ _Crocodile_?”

“We’ll talk about it later, let’s run _now_! I know what that does and it is not good” Traffy barked as Sengoku suddenly turned into a giant golden Buddha. “Room! Shambles!”

Marco blinked as they were suddenly dropping a short distance the ground, “Hey, you, Traffy—good power.”

“It’s Trafalgar Law!” Traffy snapped, shooting Luffy a glare even as the rubber man caught him when he stumbled for a moment.

“Okay, we have everyone, time to run like hell!” Koala reminded them, kicking a Marine in the face.

Mr. 3 summoned a wave of wax to pin some of their opponents. Marco shifted into his hybrid form and shot forward, catching a Vice Admiral with a flying kick. “I don’t think so!”

“Move fast, we’re going to have all three Admirals on our asses soon!” Ace said.

“Kuzan—sorry, Aokiji’s weak to fire, you can handle him with minor backup,” Law told Ace. “Kizaru might be able to blitz us, but Akainu is the biggest threat, he’s a magma logia so he’s hotter than your fire and we’re screwed unless one of you can do Haki-armor.”

“I can pull off some but I don’t think it’ll be enough to punch an Admiral,” Sabo admitted. “I do however have a few seastone bullets.”

“Sure, try that,” Law said. “But Akainu’s also the most relentless. We can count of Kizaru to get distracted at some point because the other fighters.”

“How do you know this?” Marco asked.

“He’s got Navy relatives like we do,” Sabo said, joining the group once they were off and running. “Something with Aokiji?”

“Discuss my prior home life later!” Law snapped. “Room!”

Marco watched some of the Marines try to back out of the resulting sphere, and learned why when the remainder lost their limbs.

“Be careful with your energy!” Benthem warned Law.

“I’ll be fine,” Law said.

“You sure, Traffy?” Luffy asked, using his reach to slingshot one Marine into several others. “Um…what do I do with this?”

“Give me that,” Law said, taking the severed head out of Luffy’s hand and tossing it onto what Marco was relatively sure was the wrong body.

“Okay, you are too damn creepy to be dating my brother!” Ace said.

“What he said,” Sabo agreed.                  

“Look, it was _his_ idea, you and your Emperor dad can discuss it with him _later_ ; right now I’d like to get out of here!” Law said.

“Move it!” Koala yelped, tacking Sabo and Luffy out of the way of a burst of light.

Marco spun and intercepted Aokiji as the man tried to freeze him, “We’re leaving, get lost!”

“No, you only think you’re leaving,” Aokiji said.

“We’re godamn leaving!” Ace snapped, sending a wave of fire Aokiji’s way.

“Don’t let them cut us off!” Sabo said, stashing his pipe in exchange for his rifle.

“Where’s Akainu?” Law wondered, seemingly backing away. “Shambles!”

He switched himself and Bentham with Kizaru, putting himself with Luffy, Koala, Sabo, and Mr. 3 and leaving the Admiral wide open.

“I haven’t seen him…maybe he got delayed by the other fighters?” Bentham suggested as Sabo opened fire on Kizaru and Luffy tried to help Ace and Marco.

“He’s fighting Whitebeard, over there!” Koala said, pointing.

Marco managed to spare a glance as he and Ace continued backing Aokiji up—just a little more and he’d be in Law’s Room and maybe they could cripple him.

Whitebeard was only a few hundred yards. If they made a break for it, they could easily meet up with him and regroup there. “Ace, we need to try to get to my old man.”

“Got it. You her that, Luffy?” Ace asked.

“Yep,” Luffy said.

“Flame Mirror!” Ace said, making a solid wall of fire to push Aokiji back. “Law, now!”

“Sorry, Ice,” Law said before slashing his tanto through the air. Kuzan’s arms were ripped off.

“Still got that old thing, huh kid?” Aokiji asked.

“Yeah,” Law said as Marco slammed him into the ground before taking off running.

“Come on!” Luffy called.

“Flame Fence!” Ace said, encircling Kizaru with fire as his younger brothers pulled him along.

Kizaru simply teleported through the flames, “I don’t think so—urk!”

“Thanks, Jozu, Izo!” Marco called as his brothers managed to knock the light logia off-balance and make his attack miss.

“Quite the party you’ve started here!” Izo said as he opened fire on Kizaru. “And…that is not doing anything…”

“He’s a logia!” Jozu said. “Didn’t you see me using Haki?”

“Fight them, boys, not each other,” Whitebeard scolded as they reached his position.

“Sorry Pops,” Marco said, changing his arms into wings and sweeping blue fire at Akainu while Ace let loose with his own flames. “Do we have an exit plan here?”

“Well, since our objective of getting you and Ace back has been reached, we only have to worry about the retreat!” Whitebeard said, knocking Akainu off-balance with another quake.

“Great, how do we do it?” Law asked, panting.

“You okay, Traffy?” Luffy asked him.

“It’s harder to rip bits of a logia than other people…” Law said. “And it has been a _long_ two days…”

“Aokiji can probably put his arms back on though, right?” Sabo asked.

Law nodded. “It was just to get us away. He’ll be fine by now.”

“Kizaru should have been back by now…” Jozu mused.

Koala tackled Luffy and Law right as a beam of light would have smashed into them. “Well, _there_ he is!”

“You have really good Observation Haki,” Marco complimented her.

“Spy. Part of the job,” she said. “What is _not_ part of the job is prolonged fights, I’m running out of ways to be useful since my Fishman Karate can only hurt so many people here.”

“And Benn might be able to nail Kizaru but—damn it!—he’s too fast for me,” Sabo said, missing another shot.

.o.o.o.

“They’re all with Whitebeard,” Benn told Shanks.

“Good. Lost track when Law warped them off the platform,” Shanks said.

“Do we start backing up now?” Lucky Roo asked.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Shanks said. “Everybody regroup and let’s get out of here!”

.o.o.o.

“ _Great_ , they’re getting away,” Tashigi complained as her opponent was shot in the leg. “Thanks, Rocinante.”

“My pleasure,” the blond captain said. “Don’t see much of what we can do to stop them beyond Aokiji spamming Ice Age and hoping that pins enough ships…and assuming they don’t get mad and kick our asses if he does that.”

“Whitebeard’s fading fast. That guy Akainu tricked into stabbing him sure helped,” Smoker said. “If I had to bet, he’s going to sacrifice himself so he can cover the whole retreat.”

.o.o.o.

“You want to what?” Marco asked.

“I’m covering the retreat. The rest of you are going to get out of here,” Whitebeard said, parrying another blow from Akainu. “Your group is exhausted and mostly unused to these conditions. Get out of here.”

“Marco get going!” Izo said as Aokiji showed back up and Ace had to try and force him back again. “Father, I’ll get the memo to Shanks, then?”

“Do it,” Whitebeard said and Izo took off into the fray.

Marco stared at his father in shock before shaking himself out of it. “All right, let’s go.”

Jozu coated himself in diamond and rushed ahead like a battering ram to clear the path, Mr. 3’s wax walls temporarily ensuing that it started that way.

“Somebody’s shooting at Kizaru,” Sabo said.

“Looks like it’s Yasopp and Usopp, they’re still on the Red Force,” Ace said. “As long as Whitebeard can hold out we—shit!”

“That’s Blackbeard and the guys he ran off with!” Luffy said. “What are they doing here?”

“Attacking my father,” Marco snarled.

“You heard the old man, Marco, we keep going!” Jozu reminded him.

“He’s going to get killed!” Marco said.

“Your _friends_ are going to get killed!” Jozu snapped.

Marco glanced at the group. Luffy and Bentham were both practically pulling Law along. Sabo and Koala were spent, and Mr. 3 looked practically melted. Even Ace was clearly running low.

Right. Paradise rookies.

“He knows he’s going to die. But he doesn’t want to bury his sons,” Jozu said as Blackbeard group attacked their father. “We have to move, if we stay still too long-”

Akainu seemed to come out of nowhere, fists of magma at the ready.

Marco heard a howl of pain from right beside him.

 _Ace_ was right beside him.

Marco changed forms and rammed the Admiral away, hoping too much damage hadn’t already been done as Sabo and Luffy screamed in horror.

.o.o.o.

Shanks’s heart stopped at the loud, twin scream of “ACE!”

Everything felt like it was too slow as he watched the chaos unfold.

Akainu being knocked back by a furious blue phoenix, Diamond Jozu behind it.

A small blue sphere of energy.

Sabo, Koala, and Luffy’s two other friends fighting to clear other Marines from the area around the sphere.

Inside the sphere, Luffy holding someone and Law doing…something, something Shanks didn’t get, his motions frantic.

Ace. Luffy was holding Ace.

Ace was dying.

“ **Akainu**!” Shanks roared, rushing across the battlefield, Marines dropping like flies from the sheer force of his Haki.

If one of his sons died today, so did his killer.

.o.o.o.

“What the _fuck_?” Kuzan muttered as he froze another few pirates, watching the mess unfold. His eyes were drawn to his left “Fleet Commander, what are you _doing_?”

“He asked me,” Sengoku said as he pinned Garp. “So he doesn’t kill Akainu himself.”

He heard someone mutter “Law…”

Rocinante was on his left, eyes locked on the blue energy sphere, and his son inside it.

“Orders?” Kuzan asked as Shanks and Marco tore into Akainu, forcing him back even as Kizaru joined the brawl while Whitebeard was held up by Blackbeard’s group. “ _Orders_ , Sengoku?”

“We’ve lost. We lost as soon as that idiot hit those boys while they were running,” Sengoku said. “The best we can hope for is a mutual retreat.”

Kuzan could agree with that. If that fight went on much longer they’d be down two Admirals and could get overrun.

“I’ll try to extract Kizaru and Akainu,” Kuzan said. “Rocinante, can you quiet the fight so Sengoku can call for ceasefire?”

“Just give me a moment to focus, been a while since I shut up a crowd this big,” Rocinante said.

.o.o.o.

“Don’t you die on me you asshole, I got dragged through fucking Impel Down over you…” Law hissed.

“Can you fix him?” Luffy asked, eyes watery.

“I…I don’t know,” Law admitted. “I can maybe— _maybe_ stabilize him for a little while but without proper equipment, blood, tissue, fuck, _sanitizer_ it’s not going to do anything more than prolong things…”

“Equipment like on your submarine?”

Law and Luffy looked up to see Benn Beckman. Luffy grinned in relief.

“Yes,” Law said. “If I can just get him stable enough to move…”

“You two worry about Ace, I have your backs and so do the snipers,” Benn said. “Shanks and Marco have the Admirals and Whitebeard’s kids have got the rest of the navy. We’re fine.”

“I…I need his medical records, or will,” Law said, still working. “Whoever the doctor on the Red Force is and Tony-ya will need to brief me on everything about his systems. He’ll also need blood. Lots of blood.”

“I can make more blood,” Luffy said.

“I don’t know if that’ll work or not yet…come on, come on,” Law said. “Okay, okay he can move. We have to go _now_.”

Luffy lifted Ace easily and Benn began to marshal them towards the rear lines.

.o.o.o.

Shanks didn’t know how many different Marines he was slashing at by now, all he could see was red.

This was too far. Akainu would die.

A wall of ice separated him from his next target. He smashed it, saber ripping into a panicked Vice Admiral on the other side.

“Ceasefire!”

Old reflexes from his days as a cabin boy made him pause at the word the boomed across the suddenly silent field, as much as he didn’t want to. Ceasefire always had to be given a shot.

“Ceasefire?” Akainu demanded. Shanks smirked, yes, good, he didn’t want one either. Shanks could take him out soon if he broke it.

“The Fleet Admiral has ordered a ceasefire,” Aokiji said. “Both sides are to gather their dead and wounded and leave. We’re done here.”

No. No, not after what the Navy had pulled this time.

.o.o.o.

“He’s going to do something stupid,” Yasopp muttered, looking at Shanks. “Shit, can’t get over there in time…can’t _shoot_ because of the ceasefire…”

“You won’t have to, look!” Usopp said, pointing.

.o.o.o.

Shanks kept his sword drawn. He wasn’t backing down. Oars and Whitebeard were dead. Ace was dead. This was too damn far to stop-

“Ace is going to be okay.”

Shanks stilled, glancing to his right. A mouth hovered there.

Buggy.

“Luffy’s surgeon boyfriend’s fixing him up. Says he can get him stable on the sub. They’re running now. _Don’t mess this up, Red Hair_.”

Shanks moved his saber to his scabbard, partially sheathing it. “Ceasefire of the _battle_ , Admiral. We know the war is just getting started.”

“Oh, I know.” Aokiji looked tired. “But right now we don’t need more death.”

“You’re the remaining Emperor,” Marco said, wings turning back into arms. “You lead, Red Hair.”

“And make it quick,” Buggy hissed.

Shanks took a deep breath. Wished for the days when being a pirate had been easy. Wished he knew Ace would be fine, Luffy would be fine, Sabo would be fine. “Gather the dead and wounded. We’re leaving. Stalemate.”

Akainu was seething. Good. Let him.

“Bet you somebody shoots us in the back as soon as too many turn around,” Crocodile said as the pirates started to withdraw.

“We have snipers watching the field. They’ll warn us,” Shanks said “Keep your guard up. The Marines aren’t known for keeping deals with guys like us.”

“Got an eye hovering near Law. Ace is in the sub,” Buggy said. “Getting surgery shit started…any Law’s shooing my eyeball. Asshole.”

Shanks looked over as Buggy’s mouth rejoined with the rest of him, “Thanks.”

“Eh, for a fellow member of the Roger Pirates?” Buggy said, shrugging. “You’re still an asshole, Red Hair, but Ace is Rogue’s kid. She taught me how to throw my first knives, got to have some respect.”

Shanks nodded, “Who are these guys?”

“New crew,” Buggy said, nodding at the convicts as he got on the battleship. “See ya, jackass!”

“Is Ace going to be okay?”

Shanks smiled at Sabo, “Heard he’s in surgery. You all right?”

“Really tired and really bruised,” Sabo said. He had one hell of a mark blossoming in purple above his left eye and was leaning on the woman next to him for support. “I’ll be fine.”

Shanks wished he had two arms again, so he could pat the kid on the shoulder for comfort and still keep a hand on his saber in case of betrayal. Sadly, the saber was more important right now.

.o.o.o.

“We’re just letting them leave?” Akainu demanded.

“Like Shanks and the Phoenix weren’t about to rip your head off, pull out your spine and beat Kizaru with it,” Kuzan said. “We were losing the second the escapees showed up, _really_ losing once Phoenix and Fire Fist were freed, and you only made it worse by pursuing the worst _possible_ target!”

Seriously, why not sneak attack Shanks or Beckman or someone who was actually kicking their collective ass instead of a feeling bunch of rookies?

“Orders are orders,” Kizaru said pleasantly. “I’ll use my speed to scout around, see if we have any injured lying in odd places.”

“You do that,” Kuzan said, not for the first time disturbed at how casually the oldest Admiral always handled these things. Something was not right with that guy.

“We could launch a surprise attack right now!” Akainu hissed.

“What surprise? They’ve got a bunch of guys watching us!” Smoker said, coming up next to Kuzan. “Yasopp and the Straw Hat’s sniper are both staring right at our group!”

“Besides, you know how things are. We already cut the feeds a while back, so we’ll spin it our way,” Rocinante said as he and Tashigi followed Smoker. “We never really had Marco and Ace or something, this was all an elaborate ploy to kill Whitebeard and it worked, goal achieved, yay Marines.”

“And your son and his buddy breaking out of Impel Down?” Akainu demanded.

“I await with baited breath the contortions the publicists will pull to make that somehow a win for us,” Rocinante replied coolly. He’d never liked Akainu.

“I’m going to assume they’ll disavow it entirely,” Kuzan said.

“Except for the Level Six prisoners who…well they have to come up with something because people have to be warned,” Smoker said.

“We’ll manage something for them…maybe blame Shilew?” Rocinante shrugged.

“Except he’s one of the prisoners…” Smoker pointed out.

“Fine, blame that Blackbeard guy and _then_ Shilew,” Rocinante said as Jozu and some other Whitebeard pirates reverently retrieved their captain’s corpse. “Seriously have you seen the publicists’ work? They can make it happen, I assure you.”

.o.o.o.

“Keep an eye on him for me, all right?” Marco asked. “I have to…well, I _have_ to.”

Shanks nodded. With Whitebeard dead, Marco was in charge of that crew now and they needed a leader. “I’ve got the number for the snail. We’ll call when we know something.”

Marco nodded before boarding his ship, looking despondent.

“Captain, I lost track of Kizaru!” Yasopp called down from the crow’s nest as Shanks boarded the Red Force.

“Where’s Aokiji, he’s the one who can stop us from leaving!” Shanks called back.

“Talking with other Marines, mostly. Looks like he’s giving Akainu a lecture,” Usopp said.

Shanks rolled his eyes. He’d like to give that asshole a _lot_ more than a lecture. “Well let’s get out of here while they’re busy, then!”

He glanced over at the submarine. Benn was on it, with Ace and Luffy. But he needed to be on the ship since it needed either him or Benn to give orders.

“Where are we headed?” Sven asked. “I’ve got the Heart navigator on the line, I’ll tell him where to go.”

“Let’s go to that island we had Lucky Roo’s birthday on. It’s a pretty calm place,” Shanks said.

“That’s in New World waters, sir, are you sure they can handle following us into it?” Sven asked.

“Benn’s on board if they need help and besides, that bear’s a Mink, he’s from the New World,” Shanks said. “He’ll manage.”

.o.o.o.

Benn shared a bench outside the operating room with a despondent Luffy, curled into a sad rubber ball. “You did good today.”

“Barely,” Luffy said. “Ace still might not make it, too.”

“Luffy…I know, all right. But I…I am so proud of you right now,” Benn said, putting a hand to his shoulder. “You ended up separated from your crew, with just a guy who should be your _rival_ all things considered, made him into an ally, and with his help masterminded a _mass breakout_ _from Impel Down_ all to save your brother and Marco.”

“But I might not have saved Ace!” Luffy said. “And…and Traffy pretty much burnt himself out for me and then even though he was already having trouble I had to ask him to save Ace even though using his powers uses up his energy and-”

“You did save Ace. You got him and Marco off that platform while the rest of us were mucking around with the army. You did amazingly well, Luffy. As for your…boyfriend…well, I won’t say I’m not happy he is operating on Ace even if it might exhaust him. And you can take care of him afterwards to let him know how grateful you are, okay?”

Luffy smiled, eyes watery, “I saw Gramps today. He…he let me win, I think. When we fought. He let me get to Ace.”

“Luffy, he let you get kidnapped by pirates for your own safety. I think there’s a lot of things he’d do for you boys’ sake,” Benn said.

It was hours before they surfaced, hours before Law—true to Luffy’s word, seemingly exhausted beyond all reason—told them Ace would live.

As Shanks allowed Luffy to take Law to the Red Force to sleep the fatigue off, Benn sighed, “Shanks…can you watch Ace for a bit? I need a smoke.”

Shanks nodded but Sabo stopped him, “You guys take some time. I’ll watch Ace, you need to figure out…well, what we’re going to do right now.”

“Smart kid,” Benn said, ruffling his hair. He and Shanks went up on deck.

“Well…that was an insane few days,” Shanks said.

“Mm-hm,” Benn agreed.

“Our kids,” Shanks chuckled, stealing Benn’s cigarette for the first time in years to take a drag. “Who wants to bet all three make the most wanted list?”

“Along with their significant others,” Benn said. “Still wondering how Sabo’s girlfriend got up on that platform.”

Shanks was still sulking over ‘significant others’. “Feels like just yesterday they were a pack of brats we were saving from death."

“And they’re still a pack of brats we’re saving from death, what’s your point?” Benn asked.

“…Got to give those fucking Marines credit for persistence. And only that. Because I think we’re going to be running into them a _lot_ more soon. And kicking their asses every time, of course.”

“Of course,” Benn agreed. “Looks like their plan to alter the balance of power in the New World worked…but I can’t say it’ looking great for them, either.”

.o.o.o.

In Kuzan’s destroyed office, Garp passed out three cups of hot chocolate, a fourth saved for when Sengoku got off the phone with the Elder Stars and Kong, “To awkward pride, gentlemen. For our kids’ accomplishments today.”

“Awkward indeed,” Kuzan agreed. “And to that one grandkid of yours hopefully making it, Vice Admiral.”

Garp nodded, taking a deeper drink at that.

“At least they’re safe…for now,” Rocinante said, looking out in the direction of the New World.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was fun, wasn't it?
> 
> Really the Marines were in a bad place from the start. Kizaru and Blackbeard interrupted Ace and Marco's date and captured both, they then had to try and kill both due to Ace's heritage and Marco's position in the Whitebeard pirates...yeah, they were way more screwed from the start. As Kuzan said, they were already in a pinch before Luffy and the escapees got there. 
> 
> In this universe since Marco was right next to Ace, he pushed Akainu back before the magma fist got too far in. Very damaging, still (Ace is going to spend a lot of time recovering), but not lethal. Whitebeard still didn't make it but I think he went into even the canon Marinford knowing he'd likely die there. 
> 
> Also Bon Clay/Bentham is on the crew now. Because I say so. He didn't have to do his Magellan ploy since Law could just knock the gates over. 
> 
> I skipped most of the Doflamingo stuff since you already read it in ASL In Love.
> 
> This is also where we stop sticking so close to canon and start to really go off the rails. Starting with the fact that the two years of training are going to get mucked with...but that's for next time!


End file.
